Killilea Earns NFCA All-Region Honors

STARVILLE, Mississippi – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced the 2012 Division III All-Region teams Monday afternoon. Earning her second All-New England honor of her career was junior infielder Sue Killilea (Abington, Mass.), making her the first and only player to ever be named a two-time all-region selection in the history of the UMass Boston softball program.

A 2010 second team honoree as a catcher, Killilea was named a third team at-large selection this season. The program's first and only two-time Little East Conference First Team honoree (2010 & 2012), Killilea closed out her junior season with a team-leading .416 average, which also ranked in the top-10 in the Little East Conference.

The single season record holder in runs scored (40), hits (57), slugging percentage (.742), triples (10), and total bases (92), the Abington native led the Little East this season in triples with 10.

She was also amongst the top hitters in multiple categories including on-base percentage (5th), slugging percentage (7th), runs scored (12th), hits (11th), total bases (12th), walks (11th), and stolen bases (7th). Defensively her 71 assists this season had her ranked 7th overall amongst all conference players.

In a combined 113 at-bats, Killilea posted 47 hits, 20 runs batted in, 30 runs scored, and seven doubles. She reached base a total of 74 times this season and was nearly perfect on the base paths as she went 11-for-12 in steal attempts. Her .943 fielding percentage was amongst the highest on this year's squad as she made the transition from catcher to starting shortstop.

During the season, she recorded a 12-game hit streak and posted two or more hits a total of 10 times. Her best single-game performance came on April 5 when she went 4-for-4 with one RBI, three runs scored, two doubles, and one triple in the win over Suffolk University.

She would eventually help the Beacons back to the Little East Conference tournament, making it the first-time in the history of UMass Boston softball that they earned back-to-back trips to the postseason tournament.

Softball closed out the 2012 season with a 16-22 record overall and had one of their most successful spring trips in program history in the beginning of the season. The Beacons lost four players to graduation, but should return an experienced core in 2013.